Blood is Thicker Than Water

[Kai]

Continued From: "Like the Wind, Like the Sea"[/size]

A couple of days passed since thier trial by water, and nobody had seen hide nor hair of Hamali. Not that they were concerned. The only time most of the pride took note of him was when they had the opportunity to harass him, which was exactly what they did when he finally reappeared.

"Hey Hamali, where ya been?" jeered a young male, noting the partially-healed wounds on Hamali's body "Did someone try and do Busare a favor and get rid of you?"

Hamali looked towards him and snarled.

"Augh, look at your eyes, they're so freaky! Bright white, just like your mane. You know, Bashiri says the reason you have such a long mane and Prince Nyota has none is because you stole it from him!" said a sandy-colored female.

"Thats stupid! What the hell does Bashiri know anyway?" Hamali spat, leaping at her. But she moved aside.

"Bashiri is a Pride Elder, Hamali." another female said, as if explaining to a very young cub. "She is very old and very wise. They say she even predicted that your father would bring disaster on the pride, and she was right then!"

"Yeah, and she said you looked just like him Palepelt, so you must be cursed too. She tried to tell them to kill you, because she said you would bring us bad luck too. You'll doom us all, demon lion! You shouldn't be here!" sneered the sandy-colored lioness. She then turned around and gave him a faceful of rocks and dirt.

"Freak! Get out of here!"

Hamali roared and leapt at her blindly, but the other two bullies tackled him down.

"Get off of him!" came a voice so loud it caused all three of the attackers to cease. Hamali tried to dig the sand out of his eyes.

"Hey Nyota, come to join the fun?" laughed the male.

"No, get off of him and get out of here."

This was so unexpected and unlike him, the three could only utter a confused and simultaneous "Why?"

"Because I'm the Prince and I say so! Don't question me!" He commanded. If there was one thing King Hadhi taught him right, it was how to project his voice effectively.

Grumbling, the group slinked away. Before they were out of sight, the sandy female could not help but comment "He probably just wants all the fun for himself."

Hamali stood in front of his brother, hackles raised. "What do you want with me?"

"Hello, I did just stop them from beating you up."

"I don't need your charity, Princey!" He yelled angrily.

"Well you seemed to need my help a few nights ago, as I remember..."

Hamali growled, embarassed to have to be saved by his brother. "You only did that to pass Mahiri's test!"

"Hamali, don't you see? That was the point of the test! She made me remember that you are actually my brother. And... I guess I wouldn't want you to die?" Nyota wasn't exactly the most articulate lion. He spoke akwardly, like he couldn't find the words. He seemed to be in conflict with himself. Even though they had been through a tremendous trial, years of teaching him his brother was beneath him weren't going to be totally forgotten overnight.

"Great. Good to know at least you won't be the one to kill me in my sleep." Hamali said sarcastically. He paused for a moment, then sighed. he did have to admit that the experience seemed to have changed Nyota. His brother did save him, after all. But would he have changed this way without Mahiri's test? Maybe he was right. Maybe that was the point. They needed to work together if they were going to be strong enough to kill the Ghost Lion, and this had made Nyota part of the team.
"I think I get it now." Hamali said, finally breaking the silence. "...Thanks."

"No problem."

As dusk neared, they both headed towards thier meeting spot near the ocean. Hamali stopped further from the shore than usual. Even if he understood now, he still didn't want to be any closer to the water.

[Narifia]

Mahiri was there waiting for them, as she always was. She was relieved and glad to finally see that Hamali had resurfaced, but as usual her face was emotionless. As was expected, Hamali seemed to still be frightened of the water.

That was one fear Mahiri would have to slowly wean him out of. They could afford no handicaps where they were going. The Ghost Lion could, and probably would, use any and all tricks to tear them down. They had to be prepared for the most cunning and unpredictable of traps and magic laid down by the dastardly specter. It was probable that the monster could read into their fears and use those fears against them. No, it wouldn't do them any good at all to have any handicaps like that looming over them.

Mahiri showed her younger brother no mercy, even after the events a few nights ago. She held him in an iron gaze and ordered, "Hamali. You can't afford to linger back there wallowing in your own fears. Stop pitying yourself and come up to our usual spot."

[Kai]

"No leeway at all, how like you sister. Give no quarter for ye shall recieve none." Hamali joked. He used humor to disguise and deal with his discomfort. Keeping his eyes trained away from the ocean, he made his way to their usual spot, Nyota not far behind. After what they went through yesterday, the young Prince could not possibly imagine what else there was left for them to do.

[Narifia]

"Hm. You'd be a fool to expect otherwise," Mahiri stated as she allowed the slightest of grins to escape.

Mahiri smiled brightly on the inside, however, at Hamali's effort towards humor. 'He'll be fine,' she concluded with relief. Honestly, she hadn't expected him to outright fail, but he seemed to have recovered much faster than she'd anticipated. It was only further proof that Hamali was maturing into what would end up being a most formidable assassin and partner.

Not only that, but Nyota was beginning to come around as well. He'd probably mature slower than Hamali, but he wasn't one to be tossed away so easily himself. There was definite potential there.

Mahiri looked at the both of her brothers with pride. After a moment her eyes rested on Hamali and she said, "Hamali, you have suffered a great deal. Tell me, what is it that you feel you've learned from your and your brother's most recent trial?"

[Kai]

"Blood is thicker than water." stated Hamali. Some might consider the old saying rather clichéd, but at the same time it was almost eerily appropriate for what they had been through. Hamali watched the waves of the forbidden ocean for a moment, then continued "I was angry at first. My fear took over me, it blinded me. I couldn't see the lesson you were trying to show us. But now I know. We're going up against something huge. We may not even have any idea of just how strong the Ghost Lion really is. He would crush any one of us alone." He stopped speaking, as if trying to think of how to put more of his thoughts to words.

Nyota took over instead. "He is much mightier than this ocean we were taught to fear. If we could not beat the ocean, we had no chance against him. And we certainly have no chance of fighting him if we are always fighting eachother."

[Narifia]

"Precisely," Mahiri agreed with a nod, "Now you understand."

Mahiri grinned as she decided to tease them, adding, "And now you realize just how much you really love one another."

[Kai]

Both brothers expressions comically changed to disgust at the word "love."

"I prefer the term 'tolerance.' We discovered a tolerance for eachother." Nyota suggested.

"It's more like an, 'I guess I wouldn't want you to die' relationship." Hamali joked, remembering Nyota's earlier comment. Nyota laughed a little.

[Narifia]

Mahiri couldn't help but chuckle. She said, "It's a start."

'The bond is there. Now to strengthen it,' Mahiri mused as she once again grew serious.

"Your training will be a bit different from now on. We will work on developing a team strategy," she said, pausing briefly before continuing, "Tonight you will focus on one another. I am the Ghost Lion. Your objective tonight is to work together to take me out. Watch out for your brother's blind spots and weaknesses and compensate for them. Keep an eye out for any opening to attack that your brother may not be able to see. And finally--try to create a double attack that exploits two different weak spots on your opponent at the same time. Is this understood?"

She awaited an answer, watching them with a stony determination in her eyes. She wouldn't let them take her down easily.

[Kai]

Hamali's regained his usual, serious expression.
"With all we've been taught about the Ghost Lion, do we actually know any of his weaknesses?"

"Does he have any?" Nyota added. They had heard so many tales of this horrible lion that was thier father. "We've heard stories about him since we were cubs. The way he could sneak up without being seen or heard, some even said he read your thoughts! What kind of weakness can we exploit on a lion like that?"

[Narifia]

"Legend or not, there isn't a being on earth that is without weakness. As for his otherworldly abilities, they're just that--abilities. The fact that he was born with them is irrelevant. Abilities need to be trained and honed, no matter what they are, and therefore that means that no ability is foolproof."

Mahiri took a powerful leap, and it seemed for an instant as if she had disappeared against the haze of the night. An instant later she had rebounded off of a nearby boulder and landed very neatly behind and between the two of them, stirring up sand as she landed. It had been an effort to startle them.

"If he can sneak up on you without being seen, then how do you defend against that?" she challenged, and she expected them to think and logically search for an answer.

[Kai]

The brothers settled back into normal sitting positions, her attempt at startling them having been sufficiently successful. They paused for a moment to think. They both looked pretty unsure.

"Don't be seen yourself?" Hamali offered.

[Narifia]

"Wrong. What if you're in a situation where you cannot conceal yourself? It's impossible to conceal oneself at all times. Think again," Mahiri answered. She added, "What can you do when you are tracking a prey that you cannot yet see? What do you rely on when your eyes can't help you?"

[Kai]

They both continued to think. The ocean breeze blew through their fur as the trio sat under the stars.

"Smell." said Nyota finally.

"And sound." added Hamali.

[Narifia]

"Precisely," Mahiri said approvingly. She continued, "Once we find the Ghost Lion, we will study him from afar and memorize his scent and the sound of his pawsteps. If his pawsteps even make any sound, that is."

Mahiri had made mention before of how important it was to know one's enemy. She would be teaching them more and more about this important point as their training progressed.

"Here is an even harder question. How can we guard ourselves against his mind-reading abilities?" Mahiri asked, gazing intently at the two of her brothers. There was a hint of mirth in her gaze; she enjoyed challenging them, and she was quite interested in knowing if either of them could be perceptive enough to figure this one out.

[Kai]

They were both stumped. After a long silence, Hamali seemed frustrated.

He said ,"That's even worse than not being able to see him coming! How are we supposed to stop him from reading our minds? He'll know our every move before we make it."

Nyota shrugged, he had nothing. Neither of them could think of a way to surmount this particular supernatural power.

"You'd think out of this whole mess we'd get some of these powers." Nyota muttered.

"They're a curse, you fool. You don't want his powers. You should feel lucky, you got nothing but good blood." Hamali snorted, staring at the white mane fur in front of his eyes, and then down to his pale paws. Diluted color everywhere on him, even his eyes were white, like the others had said before. Bashiri had said their pelt colors meant Hamali got the majority of his blood from their father, while Nyota got the majority of his blood from their mother. Mahiri wasn't as dark as Nyota, but the pride still seemed to think she got an acceptable amount of Jua's blood, due to her darker fur.